Planning a trip to the Balkans

The Balkans generally consist of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and the European part of Turkey. This entry sought to share tips if you are planning a trip to the Balkan; though I hardly cover half of Balkan.

1. Buying a flight ticket

You need to determine your entry point if you are not flying from Europe as you need to make a transit before flying to the Balkan country of choice. Two known routes are from Turkey or German. Most people I met in Sarajevo flew from Munich. I flew from Kuala Lumpur to Istanbul with Malaysia Airlines and Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Sarajevo. You have selections of Zagreb, Pristina, Belgrade etc. Turkish Airlines from Istanbul was full when I left for Sarajevo. For cheaper option from Turkey, do check Pegasus Airlines.

Once you have a ticket booked, you are one step ahead already. Congratulations!

It is relatively easy as you don’t have to worry much on the visa except if you are planning to include Serbia in your travel plan.

3. Accommodation

Depending on the season… I would suggest booking in advance if you are travelling during summer time. Balkans can be so crowded during summer especially the Adriatic Sea. Accommodation may costs between EURO12 onwards. We chose mixture of AirBnB, HostelWorld and others for accommodation booking. You may note that accommodation goes the cheapest at Sarajevo and reaches the sky at Dubrovnik.

Good news for backpackers as the Balkan Backpacker, an association of hostels around Balkan, offers stay at great hostels in the Balkans where you are entitled to get 10% discount for direct booking with the hostels or for walk-ins with the Balkan Backacker flyers. Check list of hostels HERE. Most of them are cozy hostels. I wish I had this info before leaving for the trip.

4. Transportation

Because of time constraint and it’s summer, we booked all of our transportation well in advance. Some places only have two buses leaving a day, for example, from Mostar to Dubrovnik. Better play safe than sorry. We used GetbyBus for buses booking.

Tips : Some bus stations require an entrance fee of EURO1. Luggage on hold means the one you store inside the storage compartment of the bus. That too is charged for EURO 1 by the bus driver. A lot of hidden charges and not all bus companies employ the same mechanism.

Tips : Print your ticket at home. If someone ask you to reprint ticket due to no seat reservation, wear your guard and tell them you don’t have too because the online printed ticket already includes unspecified reserved seat. We got cheated of 4KN each for ticket reprint in Sarajevo Bus Station.

5. Itinerary

Whether or not to have an itinerary is a subject to argue. Basic rule is that if you have time in your hand, you can travel without a fixed itinerary. If time does not permit, it is better to have a plan so you could maximize your trip. Atleast get to know the city you wish to visit before hand, as the Balkans are historically interesting. Read, read and read.

6. Halal Food?

It is very easy to find halal food in Sarajevo. However, one must note that most Bosniak Muslims no longer practise their faiths. It is wise to double check if the meats served are halal. Ask around for halal eateries. Bosnians do not believe in being vegetarian as most cuisines are meat-based. I ate very well in Sarajevo as you can reckon from the picture. The gastronomy in Sarajevo deserves a post on itself.

As most Bosniak Muslims do not live in the Republic of Sprska, be extra careful there.

Some restaurants in Mostar have halal certification displayed in their restaurans. I think the same shall apply to Albania and Kosovo.

In Lake Plitvice, halal food is unheard of. We ended up cooking at our Airbnb apartment. It is difficult to get halal food in Pristina too. Though we found Zemzem food chain near the Pristina mosque. Look out for “hallal” sign. In the Adriatic Sea, you can splurge on seafood.

7. Be Mentally Prepared

When I came back from my trip, I had received mixed responses from my friends. They wondered why I went for a very depressing vacation. First half of the trip was in deed depressing when we first learned about the Yugoslav war and Bosnian war. I could not recollect if I had seen too many a cemetery in one trip. They were everywhere especially in Sarajevo. So, all I could advise is to be mentally prepared. It would be as depressing as visiting the left over of the Khmer Rouge regime.

2 Comments

As for me, I found that certain places are depressing e.g the Khmer Rouge Regime as you mentioned earlier. But it’s another way for me to be thankful for living up till today. Tanda Syukur pada Allah SWT as in what were facing and what we are currently having right now.

No doubt, it really reflects on our present lives. After all, Malaysia is not that bad if compared to the others. I guess that’s what travel does to us all. It makes us grateful for what we have today.